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Abolish minimum parking requirements in San Francisco

San Francisco is poised to abolish minimum parking requirements citywide. If you live in San Francisco, it's time to speak up in support of this overdue change.

What's wrong with parking minimums?

Requiring a certain number of parking spots along with new homes exacerbates the housing crisis AND the climate crisis.

More parking means more cars, traffic congestion, and climate pollution.

Parking spots cost about 80,000 each to build. That makes it more expensive to build, rent, and buy new homes.

Parking takes up valuable real estate that could be used for more units in multi-family buildings, or storefront retail. In single-family homes, the space could be used for more accessible living space, gardens and trees, and play areas.

More parking (and driveways) make our neighborhoods less safe, especially for children, seniors, people with disabilities, and cyclists.

Parking minimums prioritize cars over people in our cities, undermining the walkability and sustainability of neighborhoods.

The need to change this policy became even more evident after an analysis covered by Streetsblog that showed that 88% of the new households added between 2008-2012 were car-free households. That lopsided amount was before the profusion of transportation choices that has made it even easier to live in San Francisco without owning a car. Learn more from our letter of support, and this excellent Livable City post.

In a City that prides itself on finding solutions rather than relying on tired and antiquated zoning codes, it is finally time to eliminate parking requirements citywide. Please thank Supervisors Kim, Brown, Mandelman, and Peskin for their support of this change, and urge the rest of the supervisors and the Mayor to get behind it.